**3. Management of pesticides from vineyard to wines**

Grape growing and wine production are very complex processes, which start in the vineyard, continue in the winery and end in the consumer's glass. The environmental components, encompassing soil, topography, weather and climate have major impacts on vines growing and grape quality. Management practices in vineyards influence the accumulation of pesticide residues that can potentially affect the final wine chemical composition. Harvesting, transportation and transfer of grapes into the winery and later on the winemaking processes, can modify pesticide residues and gradually reduce or eliminate them.

Pesticide management techniques are constantly changing in accordance with the consumers and policy requirements. The promotion of sustainable viticulture and reduction of chemical inputs in vineyards arises new challenges and concerns for the entire viti-vinicultural sector.

Environmental conditions such as sunlight, temperature, soil, humidity and climate play a significant role in the kinetic and dynamic behavior of pesticides and grapes. Global warming is a key factor that provokes an increase in the accumulation of soluble solids in grapes, in combination with a lower amount of anthocyanins and acidity. As a cascading phenomenon, this slows, or even blocks fermentations and may lead to large economic losses in the winery. In addition, climate change presents a deep effect on the vine phenology, grape composition, winemaking stages, wine chemistry and microbiology and finally on the sensory attributes. Chemical composition of wines, aroma compounds, polyphenolic compounds, color, sensorial characteristics are all affected by the management of vineyards.

Management of vineyard is coordinated by humans and based on their decisions, many components may be affected. Grape quality is dependent on rows orientation, their training system, density, the calendar for pruning, trimming, fungicide treatments, or the way in which soil surface is managed, which comprise its tillage, the manipulation of the canopy structure and nitrogen fertilization [20]. High quality grape berries are influenced by the microclimate, sunlight and water levels. The light influences the evolution of grape volatile compounds, through the amount of light absorbed by the vine leaf area that determines the rate of photosynthesis. All these components generate an uneven distribution of favorable factors that may led to a high fluctuation of grape quality across different years.

Canopy management includes a series of common techniques, such as the plucking of leaves and head trimming. The first technique improves the microclimate of clusters, provides better fruit maturation, decreasing grapevine diseases incidence [21]. The second one, decrease transpiration and induces the lignification of the plant, balances the growth of branches and insulation within the foliage. Thus, wines resulted from defoliated grapes have higher fruity notes.

In order to obtain a high-quality wine, it is mandatory to have healthy grapes in the winemaking process. Vine growers have to be very careful in the prevention of parasite attacks in vineyards. Phytosanitary treatments used for common vine diseases such as botrytis, powdery mildew or downy mildew may provoke important problems during winemaking. Residues on grapes can be passed to the must and affect the selection and development of yeast strains [8]. Yeast can decrease the pesticides content in the wine. The persistence of pesticides depends on various factors such as the chemical characteristics of active ingredients, photodegradation, thermo-degradation and enzymatic degradation [22].

One of the essential pilons of the horticultural sciences for the control of insectpests during the second half of XX century is Integrated Pest Management (IPM). There are various strategies to decrease the presence of pesticide residues in wine,

#### **Figure 2.**

*Strategies used to remove pesticides in vineyards. A) Rational use of pesticides in the vineyards. B) Integrated pest management stategies.*

such as treatments with sulfur, copper, or plant extracts as alternatives to synthetic products. Another strategy includes scheduled dosages and installation of a meteorological station to relay real-time weather data by General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) connection [23].

In the European Union [24] the use of copper fungicides in organic agriculture is restricted, being limited to 6 kg ha−1per year [25]. Vallejo et al. [23] found that "weather station" was the most effective to decrease pesticide with wine-growing ecosystem.

IPM is considered as an environmentally friendly approach that can ensure sustainable production, constant yields and high-quality horticultural products [26, 27].

Sustainable agriculture is a key objective of the European Union and a focus of its sustainable development policies. Suitable remedial measures aim to decrease occurrence of pesticides toxicity and other health issues correlated with pesticides. Normally it employs mechanical, cultural and biological methods; allows use of chemical pesticides only when it is required; if possible, bio-pesticide usage, biocontrol and indigenous advanced [27]. Some strategies to reduce pesticide residues are presented below and in (**Figure 2A** and **B)**:


*Management of Pesticides from Vineyard to Wines: Focus on Wine Safety and Pesticides Removal… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.98991*

cultivars; plant breeding is a long and complex process, which is often unable to keep pace with the rapid evolution of pathogens or the emergence of new pests — processes that are increasingly driven by globalization and climate change [29].

• Artificial intelligence in agriculture can help identification and classification of weeds, pests and diseases exactly and efficiently; photos taken by drones or from tractor-mounted spraying boots allow targeted spraying and decrease the overall applied pesticide quantities.
